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Duke Mondy making most of chance at Oakland

Duke Mondy

The college career of Oakland guard Duke Mondy hasn’t been an easy one.

Mondy, who hails from Grand Rapids, MI, was recruited to Providence by then head coach Keno Davis. He spent his freshman and sophomore seasons with the Friars, but was in and out of disciplinary trouble there. Mondy was benched for the final four games of the 2010-11 season due to a “coach’s decision,” which ultimately led to his transfer to Oakland.

After sitting out the 2011-12 season due to NCAA transfer rules, Mondy was an immediate impact player for the Golden Grizzlies a season ago. He was third on the team in scoring, and led in assists at 5.1 per game. Perhaps his biggest impact on the floor, however, was on the defensive end where he averaged 3.0 steals per game. This year, he has upped that average to a remarkable 4.0 per game -- no played has finished above four steals per game since 2002.

Mondy told Noah Trister of Kentucky.com: “I kind of put myself — if I was a player, at each position, what would I do?” Mondy said. “Like, if I was the center, what would I do? Would I kick it out? Or if I was the point guard, would I penetrate and try to kick?”

There’s no question he has a knack for the ball, but he also has a nose for trouble.

If you recognize Mondy’s name, that’s most likely due to an off-the-court incident earlier this season when Oakland was on the road in California. Mondy and teammate Dante Williams were arrested based on a woman’s sexual assault complaint. Authorities in California did not proceed with formal criminal charges, but a bad taste was still left in Oakland head coach Greg Kampe’s mouth.

Said Kampe:


“I have a real problem with what happened in California, morally, but I didn’t grow up on the streets, or how he grew up. The compass that I have inside of me and the compass that Duke has inside of him aren’t the same. ... Duke is a good young man. We’ve just got to work on his compass.”

Kampe has provided Mondy with chances to redeem himself, both after his issues at Providence and most recent one in California. The chances have paid dividends on the floor for Oakland. Kampe explained what an impact Mondy has had:

I’ve never seen anything like it. We knew it when we got him. The sit-out year, he just took the ball from us in practice all the time. Early on, it caused us as many problems as it helped us, because he’s gambling and putting us in a bad situation, and that’ll happen now and then. But you have to live with that if you want the five run-outs that you’re going to get in a game.

Oakland played a brutal schedule in the non-conference, and are out to a less than stellar 5-11 record as a result, but are looking to get on track during Horizon League play, where they are competing in their first season after coming over from the Summit League.

Like many coaches, Kampe is having a profound affect on Mondy off the court. Mondy said: “He’s going to tell me straight, how it is. He’s not going to sugar coat anything. He’s been hard on me. He’s been helping me a lot, changing my life around.”

While Kampe is helping Mondy to turn things around, Mondy is still focusing on creating headaches on the floor for the opposition, and he’s doing a damn good job at that.

Follow @KLDoyle11